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Author Notes:Cherry tomatoes tend to crack, especially after several days of heavy rain like we just had. I always end up with a basket of “seconds” from my garden which I immediately turn into this simple and easy tomato spread. Or, I freeze the tomatoes whole and make the spread in the fall or winter as needed. It keeps in the refrigerator for one week to ten days.
This year I mainly grew the Sweet 100 variety, which truly deserves its name. As you can tell from the numerous submissions to the contest there are many wonderful recipes with cherry tomatoes. For me, capturing their flavor for the winter days when I cannot even walk to the compost barrel because we are iced in and I would give anything for a fresh tomato, is one of my favorite recipes with cherry tomatoes. - MyGardenersTable
—Green Card Gardener

Food52 Review: Using a wonderful heirloom variety, the cherry tomato spread from MyGardenersTable really captures the flavor of summertime in a jar. We prepared this recipe twice; once using gorgeous sweet big cherry tomatoes from the farmer's market, and once with cherry tomatoes from the supermarket. The supermarket cherry tomatoes just weren't juicy enough to withstand the high oven heat and dried out. The second time around, when we used heirloom cherry tomatoes, we erred on the side of caution and turned the oven down to 350°F and it came out very nicely. It's important to use the just right-sized small, heavy pot with a tight-fitting lid to prevent the juices from escaping; the tomatoes should come at least two-thirds of the way up the side. We'll be making some more and freezing it for the winter! - wssmom —wssmom

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Makes 2 cups

1¾
pounds ripe cherry tomatoes

6
garlic cloves

¼
cups olive oil

1
teaspoon salt

Freshly ground pepper

1
pinch cayenne pepper

Extra-virgin olive oil

You also need:

A small cast-iron Dutch oven

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Cut tomatoes in half, saving all of the juice. Chop garlic. In a bowl mix tomatoes and juice, garlic, olive oil, pepper and cayenne pepper.

Put mixture in a small cast-iron pot and cook covered in the preheated oven for 1 hour.

Remove the lid and cook for 1 more hour, or until the juice has thickened. Stir occasionally and scrape down the tomatoes from the edges to prevent burning.

Cool and transfer to a tall bowl if using a stick blender for pureeing, or a food processor bowl. Puree finely to a paste-like consistency. Fill in an airtight container, pour a little bit of EVOO on top to seal, and refrigerate.

I've been making this every year with the abundance of cherry tomatoes in my garden. I tried canning it, as i can all my other tomato products, but the result had a bitter edge when I opened the jar. I'm going to try freezing this year. Meanwhile, an equal amount of this spread and some homemade chicken stock makes an awesom tomato soup for. cool rainy day.

What a great way to use the last of the summer cherry tomatoes. I had just made a batch of Jennifer Perillo's Creamy Homemade Ricotta (which is amazing) and I ended up spreading them together on french baguette slices. It was the hit of the appetizer selections at a family dinner party.

@wssmom: Thanks for your great and detailed review! I never froze the spread itself but I am really glad you are suggesting that. Why not, I also freeze pesto, which is raw, so that spread should freeze well also. - Now out to the garden to pick more cherry tomatoes before the next few days of rain will spoil them.

Glad you liked it. - I love what you say about your most treasured kitchen possession and I will forward this to my husband. He says something to me often too but does not always follow through 100% with part 2 (maybe I am using too many pots, pans and utensils for his taste). Anyway, I do think a living being qualifies as "most treasured", you don't have to put the emphasis on "possession". Enjoy the tomato spread.